Lagos State government through the Office for Disability Affairs, LASODA has organised a seminar to promote oral care and health hygiene among people with disabilities.
The initiative according to the agency is to raise awareness and improve the health and well-being of people with special needs.
Speaking at the event held at the STO Resource Centre, Alausa Ikeja, with the theme “Oral Health: A key to Cardiovascular Health,” the General Manager Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs, Mrs Adenike Oyetunde-Lawal said the event was designed to address the critical health challenges often faced by individuals with disabilities due to inadequate oral hygiene practices, which could lead to serious health complications.
Lawal explained that the event with special focus on the oral-systemic connection, is to protect the hearts through oral care as well as promote better oral health and improve the quality of life for persons with disabilities in Lagos State.
The event according to her is to also equip about 200 participants with the right knowledge, tools, and resources to enhance oral care practices and, by extension, improve their overall health.
Oral hygiene
She said “Many people don’t know how important is what goes on in their mouth is connected to their brain and because we have special children, they don’t have the capacity to brush by themselves or muscular strength of their own and they have to be subjected to both occupational and physical therapy to enhance strength in their mouth and sadly many of them suffered and lived with bad oral hygiene.
“So the purpose of this event is to highlight the importance of all these and to pinpoint to parents how important is nutrition and oral health and allow experts to have their input and give advice on how the parents can improve their oral health and that of their children.
“Today we are carrying out a few on-the-spot scaling and polishing and most participants will get the dental assessment by the dentist and our special children will get scaling and polishing, almost a hundred will benefit today and our hope is that with the impact of this event we will not just continue the event, we will also increase our capacity as well.”
LASODA Boss emphasised the importance of taking proactive steps towards ensuring a healthier future for all, stressing that Oral health is a critical component of overall well-being which is often overlooked and the administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu will continue to create awareness, provide lasting solutions, and offer essential support to everyone in this regard.
Improving well being
The Guest Speaker at the event, Dr Funmi Adeniyi emphasised the need for regular brushing of teeth, mouth flossing and visit to dentist at least twice in a year as a way to prevent oral disease and improve the health and well-being of people with disabilities.
She also enjoined parents and caregivers to imbibe the idea of allowing the children to drink a lot of water as well as eating more fruits and vegetables as a way to prevent oral challenges.
“We must ensure that you visit the dentist twice a year, brushing your teeth regularly will resolve this challenge and make sure you visit dentist that are specialist in treating PWDs. And additionally, make the toothbrushing interesting and creative with the children.” she added
Some of the participants who enjoyed free dental care services at the event appreciated the state government and the agency for providing practical guidance and avenues to cater for their oral hygiene which according to them meet the specific needs of persons with disabilities.
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